This archive report was first published on 27 December 2019.
On December 27, 2019, a family in Nyalenda slums, Kisumu County, received devastating news: their 13-year-old daughter, a KCPE top performer, had written a suicide note.
The girl, who scored 391 marks in the recently released Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination results, had received an admission letter from Asumbi Girls and was expected to join her new school in early January 2020.
However, upon realising that her parents could not afford the Ksh.53,544 fee required for the year, the student wrote a heart-wrenching suicide note, which read: 'I know it is not the only way to solve this problem, but it is the best option for me to take.'
According to her mother, Lucy Emily Ombok, the girl had appeared troubled since the release of the KCPE results, and the family has since managed to inform her former school teachers to talk to the girl even as they continue to plead for help from well-wishers.
